Mad Ants Survive Tough Test From Delaware

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants defeated the Delaware 87ers, 113-110, at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on Friday night in front of a crowd of 4,422. Trey McKinney Jones led the Mad Ants (26-18) with 23 points – including 12 in the second half – on 9-of-15 shooting off the bench.

Ike Anigbogu recorded a new career-high with 20 points and four rebounds. He was recalled by the Indiana Pacers at the conclusion of tonight’s game.

It was a game that saw eight technical fouls between the two teams. NBA G League Player of the Month for February, DeQuan Jones, was ejected at the 3:32 mark in the first quarter resulting from an altercation after an attempted fastbreak layup.

Following Jones’ ejection, Stephan Hicks tallied eight more points to finish the first half with 14 points. Behind 14 points each from Christian Wood and James Young, Fort Wayne went into the locker room trailing Delaware (13-32), 56-55.

The Mad Ants shot 10-of-21 in the next 12 minutes out of the break to take an 88-81 lead into the final quarter.

The lead would eventually grow to as large as 11 for Fort Wayne in the final quarter behind 12 points from Anigbogu in the fourth quarter.

Delaware was paced by Philadelphia 76ers two-way player James Young with 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting. Young previously poured in 29 points on Nov. 28 against Fort Wayne as a member of the Wisconsin Herd.

Christian Wood finished with a double-double performance of 25 points and 12 rebounds.

Jarrod Uthoff scored the only other other double-double on the night with 13 points and 10 rebounds. It was his eighth of the season.

The Mad Ants head to take on Grand Rapids on Tuesday morning for a pivotal central division showdown, while Delaware will take on Long Island on Sunday.